Moorhead Fire Department

Today we went to the Moorhead Fire Department. Besides knowing the place they work and the truck, we could know a little bit more about what they do during their routine. It is not an easy profession and they have to dedicate their life to prepare themselves to an emergency. I think that many people do not know the job of a firefighter. It is common to think that firefighters only acts when there is a fire going on, but they do a lot of things besides this. When there is someone stuck in car during an emergency, the firefighters go there. When someone needs to be rescued, there they are. So, besides the fire, they have all the equipment to save someone’s life. They usually act together with ambulance and doctors, because maybe the ambulance would not rescue someone because they do not have any tools to do so. 

Bonanzaville

1. What themes are displayed in Bonanzaville Village?

Bonanzaville displays the old Midwest. 

2. Describe the most interesting artifacts of the exhibition and reflect on their significance.

There are a lot of interesting things in Bonanzaville. The exhibition about the Germany in II WW was pretty interesting. It showed a lot of things that many people would not know, like the books that were burned in Germany. Another interesting thing was the ville itself. See the old stores and the old cars and planes was good to feel the atmosphere of the past. 

The Sound of Music

1-The story is about a family in Austria during the Germany’s invasion. There are two main points. The first one is about Maria. She was training to become a nun, but she went to the Captain Von Trapp’s house to be the Governess. She falls in love with him after a while and besides all the conflicts, they get married and stick together until the end. The second main point is about the persecution of Captain Von Trapp. The Von Trapp Family had to run away to Switzerland so the Nazis couldn’t catch them.

2- The protagonist in the story is Captain Von Trapp and Maria Von Trapp. First Maria went to the Von Trapp’s house to work as a Governess. Later then, she became Captain’s wife. She realized she has fallen in love with Captain and because she has changed all the kids and also the Captain’s behavior a lot, he also fell in love with her. The antagonists in the story are the kids (Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta e Gretl), Elsa Schraeder, Max Detweiler, Rolf and Mother Abbess.

3- I think that there are two main conflicts in the story. First is about Maria’s feeling. She left the abby to become a governess in Captain’s house and then she fell in love with him. She didn’t know how to act and I think this is the first conflict. The second is about the invasion and the persecution of Captain and how they ran away from Austria.

4- Because “The sound of music” is a musical, the voice and the songs are essential. Besides that the music that characters sing shows about their feelings, the music can also show about what is going to happen next. For instance, the scene can be changed from drama to comedy because one tone was changed. Another important tool is the prologue because it shows the public what the play is going to be about.

5- Light: To draw attention to the main actor in that moment.

Music: To indicate that a scary, drama, funny, love, etc, scene is coming up.

6-

1) When Liesl sang the song telling she needed a man telling her what to do. It shows how fragile women were seen by others.

2) How Captain was strict to their children. It shows how military was with family.

7- Happened: The Germany’s invasion and also the imposition above all the Austrians to join a nation between Germany and Austria.

Not happened: In real life Captain and Maria took around 5 years to get married, and in the theater they married as soon as they noticed they were in love. Captain did not run away as was represented in the movie; the family’s scape was much easier because the army did not want Captain Von Trapp specifically, as represented in the movie.

8- Ideological effects: the couple, Liesl and Rolf, could not be together because they both believed in different things. Liesl agreed with her father and Rolf was Nazi.

9-

1    1)When you don’t agree with a political decision, you can run away from your country, as represented in the end of the movie.

2     2)Being more careful can help relationships between families and friends. This was represented when Maria came to Captain’s house.

1   10- Yes. It gives the audience a notion of what happened and also portrays the way family lived in Austria during the war.

Visits to Doroth Day House and Nursing Home

Today we went to the Doroth Day House, a temporary shelter for homeless. We went to see how people live there and also the way they keep the house in order. They showed us their jobs and how they do to get clothes, to help the homeless to get their new employments, home, etc. After that, we went to the Nursing home again. We played bingo with the elders and talked to some of them. They were really happy to have us joing again. I think that the importance of these two institutions is both giving better quality of life to people. At the nursing home, some of the elderly people have better lives than they would have staying home. At Doroth Day House, they have an amazing job giving not only employments and homes back to homeless but also giving life back to the people. Staying in cars or under the bridge, hungry, almost freezing and etc, definitely isn’t a good way to live.

Thanksgiving Day

Nowadays, when people celebrate the Thanksgiving Day, they say during the dinner what they are thanks for, like their lives, their health, their family and friends, etc. In the past, although there are some contradictions, usually they say that the Thanksgiving was a huge celebration between the Indians and the Europeans that lived in America. The “party” happened because the two nations were together living in peace, sharing foods and sharing homes. No one was hungry, angry or dying frozen. Indians and Europeans then had this date to celebrate all of these things. The Thanksgiving is originally celebrated on November.

Lynn Brakke Organic Farm

1. How is organic farming different from conventional farming?

Usually, conventional farming uses different types of products, like pesticides. Because of the chemicals, the plants tend to grow faster.

2. What is the nutrition value of organic food? Provide examples from the article.

The article says that mothers consuming organic milk and meat products as part of her diet has higher levels of rumenic acid in their breast milk. Another example is that scientist have found that strawberries, the organic ones, have higher levels of antioxidants and higher concentrations of Vitamin C. Besides, another research shows that organic crops contain fewer nitrates, nitrites and pesticide residues, but, on the other hand, they have more vitamin C, phenolic compounds, essential amino acids, minerals, more dry matter and more total sugar.

3. How do organic practices improve the soil quality?

Because crops and manure are used, it improves the offset the losses from tillage. Besides, the article says that the organic farming also improves the quality because there are more soil organic matters, it enhances microbial activity and reduces soil acidity.

4. Why is organic production expensive?

In organic farming pesticides and chemical products are not used. Because of this, usually it takes much more time to labor work be done, so, it takes more money. Besides that, plants do not grow as fast as in conventional farming, and time is money; so, if it takes more time, it takes more money.

Comstock House

Comstock House is an important landmark of Moorhead history because this family was one of the first families that came to live here. Besides, all the furniture, some wallpapers, dolls, clothes and etc, belong to Comstock Family; all the furniture were from Victorian Era. By visiting the house you can have some ideas of how life was in Moorhead some years ago. Solomon Comstock was the father and he also built the house. He was married with Sarah Ball and they raised three kids at Comstock House; his son, the youngest, latter gave the house to the government and then it became a museum. 

Nursing home

Today we went to the nursing home. It was fun and I really enjoyed going there. The nursing home takes care of elderly people; they can go to there by themselves or they can stay because their family agreed in taking grandmother or grandfather there. Sometimes it is really sad, because some of them really miss talking to someone or even have a good time. We noticed that the elders that went to the nursing home by themselves were much happier than the other that was taken there by their families. Anyway, I felt pretty good when I realized that all the things that we say could make some of them feel better. Even the happiest one was much happier when Concordia went there. Besides the conversation, we also had the bingo. Some of them did not enjoy the game because they could not hear the numbers; some of them loved playing bingo and some of them just fell asleep. My impression is that more people could spend more time going there and  helping the elders because that would make them happier.

Lake Agassiz Habitat for Humanity

1) Habitat for Humanity builds houses for poor people that live in dangerous area. 

2) No. People can apply, but they only win the house if they can afford the costs that usually you get when you buy any house, like light, water, etc. They have to live in a dangerous area also.

3) Projects done - 26
Projects running - 7

4) People can volunteering by donating money, materials (used or new), furnitures from individuals, businesses, and contractors. Also, Habitat accepts appliances. In addition, people can help building the houses and shopping some stuffs for the house.

5) if you live in a safer place, it's better for the family's health. If you're living in a dirty area, you might get asmas. If you go to a better cleaner place, you'll get better health, mood, etc. All these stuffs make family's relationship between members better.

Dorothy Day House of Hospitality

1) Dorothy Day was an social activist that fought against hungry and poverty, and also for the women's rights. She advocated for fair distribution of food and home, and also for some rights.

2) The mission of the food pantry we visited today is to give food for those who are starving. Dorothy Day food pantry distributes food baskets for those who are homeless. Families can go to the food pantry and take a basket only one time a month, and this basket usually lasts for 2 or 3 days. Also, to receive the food, people must have identification. The pantry works because the community helps. Great part of the food is donated by people, supermarkets, and etc; only a small part is purchased. Since Dorothy Day food pantry is a charitable organization, they can buy food for a lower cost. Besides donating, people can also help when they volunteer. Volunteers show they family what they can or can’t take and also the quantity. They can see this by the card colors; with this indication, they are able to know how many members there are in the family and also the size of the basket they are going to need. Besides the food, families can also buy some clothes with the ticket they get in Dorothy Day food pantry. They are allowed to get twenty pieces of clothes, like shorts, t-shirts, jackets, shoes, pants, socks, etc. So, they will not freeze when winter comes and they will not “melt” when summer comes.

Hjemkomst Center

1) At Hjemkomst Center we've learned that Moorhead residents and Norwegian have a lot in common, since Norway, Scotland, etc, have colonized this area. They have similar cultures, history, appearance, etc.

2) Robert Asp, that had origins from Norwegians vikings, built an viking ship; his dream was to build the ship and sail it to Norway. 

3) The ship wasn't professional, but he received some help and also the ship underwent some modifications so it could get better (stability, resistance, etc).

4) When Asp was doing his ship, the government of Minnesota didn't ask him to pay some taxes, so this would help him. 

5) After all of this, the Hjemkomst Center was created to keep Minnesota memories alive. He had a hard work building the ship and this must not be forgotten. Also, this was not only an local event. When the viking ship was built, history and culture could cross the ocean with the sailors.

Viking Ship and the brazilians

Racism

1) I have never experienced an racism fight in my country, but I have heard jokes about black and japanese people.

2) I don't have the faintest idea of racism in US nowadays because I haven't seen anything while I'm here. I know they had slavery, they had Martin Luther King that have fight for black people rights, I know they have Obama, which is the first black president in US. I know this country where I'm living now do has some are racists because United States of America has history.I think there are some states that are more racists than others. I believe that, like in Brazil, old people have more prejudice than young people, so I think tradicional states are more racists than open minded ones. 

3) My opinion about race discrimination is that it involves the thought that someone is less than you because he/she has different skin color or because someone is from a different country or nation.

4) The concept of diversity does not include only racial differences. I think when you have different ideas, it's still diversity. When me and all the brazilians here in Concordia College looks different, this is diversity. I think the concept of diversity includes different points of view, tolerance, knowledge, thought, economic class, and etc.

5) According to the movie, some people become violent and biased because they are mad with something else. Sometimes people get in trouble and they want someone else to blame (like the police officer); sometimes they just want revenge (like the black man); sometimes they just don't accept the diversity (the other officers).

From Brazil to Moorhead

It's still unbelievable but I'm gonna live in Moorhead for almost two months. Yesterday I met the others brazilian students and they are great. I also met chinese people and they are awesome too. Sometimes it's weird because we have to call them -chinese people- by american names and not by their asian names. I'm trying to learn their real names because that makes them happy. I really don't know how to write them, but I write on a paper how to say (I mean, the sound of their names) and I call them by their chinese names. It's a hard work but I'm still trying.

About Concordia College and Moorhead, it's a nice place to stay, although I have some troubles... I forget sometimes that only brazilian people like to hug everybody and smile and everything, and it seems that I'm "invading" american/chinese personal space. They are not rude and I'm trying to figure this thing out. Things are getting better.

About classes, we had this song this morning:

"It's raining; it's pouring.The old man is snoring.He went to bed and bumped his head, and couldn't get up in the morning..."

Sometimes it's funny cause it seems like I'm back to elementary, hahahahaha.

I guess that's all, folks.